Itsekiri people

The Itsekiri (also called the Isekiri, Jekri, Itsekri and Ishekiri and historically as Warree and all its variant spellings), are an ethnic group who mainly inhabit the western Niger Delta area in Edo and Delta states. The Itsekiri speak a Yoruboid language and number around 1.1 million people, concentrated mainly in the Warri South, Warri North and Warri South West local government districts of Delta State as well as the adjoining portions of Edo and Ondo on the Atlantic coast of Nigeria. The Itsekiri ethnic homeland covers an area of around 3,836 km².

Large Itsekiri indigenous communities and populations can also be found in seven other local government areas of Delta state outside the aforementioned places, namely in; Okpe, Uvwie, Udu, Sapele, Ethiope West, Ethiope East and Burutu areas in the Delta central and Delta south senatorial districts of Delta State, Nigeria.

Other significant communities of migrated Itsekiris can be found resident in various Nigerian cities including; Lagos, Benin City, Port Harcourt and Abuja. Many people of Itsekiri descent also reside in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. The Itsekiris are closely related to the Yoruba of South Western Nigeria and also close to the Urhobo and Edo peoples. The Itsekiris traditionally refer to their land as the Kingdom of Warri or 'Iwere' as its proper name – which is geographically conterminous with the area covered by the three Warri local government districts. The area is a key centre of Nigeria's crude oil and natural gas production and petroleum refining and the main town of Warri (a multi-ethnic metropolis) forms the industrial and commercial nucleus of the Delta State region.